Portfolio Insights:“The University of San Diego’s endowment represents the combined support of numerous individual gifts that are directed, usually by specific donor request, to scholarships, professorships, research and other essential activities. The endowment is comprised of pooled funds invested over the long-term (the “Pool”), and other assets including real estate and cash equivalents. The Pool’s investment performance for the year ending June 30, 2014 was +17.7%, and 9.9% and 12.8% for the three-year and five-year trailing periods, respectively. The net asset market value of the University’s total endowment was $468.8 million on June 30, 2014.

The Pool’s net investment performance is measured formally every quarter against several benchmarks. One is the Custom Portfolio Benchmark consisting of indices representing the asset classes of the Pool, weighted by their policy target allocations. In addition, the Pool’s returns are compared to the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) & Commonfund Study of Endowments, which compiles the investment performance of over 800 U.S. colleges and universities on an annual basis. The University has outperformed its Custom Portfolio Benchmark over the most recent trailing 1, 3 and 5 fiscal year periods ending June 30, 2014 by 3.0%, 2.4% and 2.2%, respectively.” (Source)

1) The University of San Diego is committed to sustainability through a formal policy and plan. The sustainability committee works to develop policies and educates the school community about environmental and conservation efforts on campus. A full-time director heads up the sustainability office. All new appliances purchased by the university are Energy Star certified. (Source)

2) University of San Diego students are investing in their personal and professional future. Career Services and the Alumni Association serve to help students and alumni pursue their post-graduate endeavors of employment, volunteering, or furthering of education. Career Services offers resume and interview preparation as well as online resources such as ToreroLink employment listings. The Alumni Association provides the necessary tools to establish relationships with fellow alumni and to help make career transitions. The Torero Network is an on-line directory of 50,000 alumni designed exclusively for USD to enable alumni to browse networking contacts locally, regionally, and nationally.

Six months after graduation, 82% of USD alumni are employed, 13% are enrolled in graduate or professional school and 3% are travelling or volunteering. Graduates find work in fifty states and over ninety-five countries. Sixty-nine percent receive job offers before graduation and 21% within three months of graduating. (Source)

3) Apr 25, 2014 – The University of San Diego (USD) recently had its V2 Pitch Competition and formally announced a winner.

There were four different startups selected to split the $50,000 pot, but it didn’t break down evenly. Rather, Alumnify walked away with $40,000 of the prize money while the other three teams split the remaining $10,000.

Further, there were investors present that liked Alumnify so much that post-V2, the company received an additional $60,000 in investments. In other words, the Alumnify team walked away with $100,000 from winning USD’s V2: talk about a viable career path right out of college! (Source)

4) The University of San Diego Rotaract Club was reborn after a previous hiatus in the Spring of 2009. Innovational in its founding, USD Rotaract is unique in that it is sponsored by three different Rotary Clubs in the San Diego area. Currently USD Rotaract is sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Coronado, Del Mar, and La Jolla Golden Triangle. With consistently increasing membership and dedication, the USD Rotaract Club is become a driving force in the community and integral Club on campus. (Source)

5) In 2006, the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees engages Cambridge Associates LLC, a global investment research and consulting firm. Cambridge Associates consults the Investment Committee in its fiduciary oversight of more than ninety independent fund managers that comprise the USD Endowment’s portfolio.

In 2009, the University of San Diego partners with Northern Trust, a global leader in investment management, to serve as master custodian of the portfolio’s assets.

In 2012, a $20 million contribution from Mrs. Darlene V. Shiley is received to establish the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering at the University of San Diego. (Source)

About Richard C. Wilson

INC 500

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